Mourning has Broken
by KeyofAce
Summary: A fateful encounter with another crew on the Grand Line leads Robin to reflect on the deaths of Luffy, Zoro and most of all, Sanji. One-shot with angst and romance, rated M for suggested themes and gore.


Hey everybody, I got the idea for this one when riding the train home from the doctors and as angsty as it is, I think after two revisions I finally got the mix between fluff and angst just right. I don't own One Piece or any of the characters in this story; they all belong to Oda-sensei. Enjoy! (Also Rate and Review…. Please? Even if it's just to tell me how shit I am because I killed the monster trio?)

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It is both amazing and perplexing how easy things can go from perfect harmony to complete and utter chaos. Purity to evil and happiness to despair, such as it was for Nico Robin of the Straw Hat Pirates. The smoky deck of the Thousand Sunny was dotted with bodies, flowing with blood and empty of joy. Nico Robin sat against the wall of the almost lifeless ship with his head in her hands, a clouded mind and a dazed expression painted on her perfect face. The galley housed Nami's slender form lay slumped against the stove, Luffy's body in front of her, a myriad of swords puncturing his heart and a pool of blood surrounding his still, lifeless body. The tiny, innocent doctor Chopper was crawling, straining with his only remaining strength towards the swordsman who inhaled slowly, heavily and painfully. By the time the doctor made it to Zoro, the swordsman had already taken in his last breath. Ussop was alive, bullet holes perforating his back and blood dripping out of his overalls, and yet he lived, barely. Brook the perverted musician who brought so much joy and good times to the crew was nowhere to be seen, Robin assumed he was thrown overboard, an easy way to kill an already dead devil fruit user. The cyborg Franky was heavily damaged, his left arm removed and his left eye now a gap in his head. The sparking hole that was his eye pulsed with electricity and dripped with blood, but he breathed, short and ragged. That left only the chef. The chef who brought the delicious aromas of ten thousand meals lay in Robin's arms, riddled with bullet holes; a dagger lodged firmly in his neck, blood seeping out of it in sickeningly slow pulses. His legs and hands had been cut off as an insult, the black legs that made him famous thrown overboard along with his hands that prepared a thousand-thousand meals and the straw-hat that Luffy loved and treasured so. The only cherished items of the monster trio that weren't destroyed were the three swords that made Zoro so powerful; his white sword taken by the captain of the pirate crew that destroyed the straw hats, the other two pushed through his arms, pinning him to the ship's deck.

Robin looked down at the head in her hands. Sanji's face was still plastered with that handsome, arrogant grin on his face. The grin that showed the serenity Sanji had found the grave experiencing. Sanji had after all, achieved what he had set out to do, and that was to save Robin's life. It was astonishing how quickly he leapt at the pirate that almost killed her. Anyone who had seen the cook's Diable Jiambe feared it, but the sheer terror in this pirates face was an expression no man had shown before. What was left of him disappeared under the ocean surface, and robin was left completely unharmed. The brunette beauty could do nothing but watch the speed and strength of which the chef moved through the pirates around them with shock. Sanji appeared unstoppable, appeared being the key word, because his fate was sealed when a high ranking crew member and a group of lower ranking crew members had set up a firing line intending to slay him and Robin. The sea-stone restraints around her wrists restricted her from aiding the crew in any way, and Robin truly felt helpless. The cook however prepared to stop the barrage of gunfire aimed at him and Robin, tensing the muscles in his legs to leap at them, to destroy his enemies. He was stopped short as a long, vicious looking dagger was thrust quickly into his neck. His legs un-tensed, his eyes shot open, he gurgled blood, choking and looked to his horror as the firing line took aim at Robin. With the last remaining strength in his rapidly weakening body he kicked the dagger-man in the head with his flaming leg, killing the man and then flew to shield Robin at blinding speeds. The bullets hit him with sickening thuds, but not a single bullet pierced Robin, because before they had a chance to reload, the cook had thrown everything he had at them, every ounce of courage, strength and bravado. Despite the valiant fight the chef put up, there were ultimately too many; when one was slain two more appeared and against all his efforts he was gunned down. His legs were quickly removed along with his hands, tossed overboard, Robin's handcuffs were removed and the other pirate crew climbed their gangplanks and sailed off. It seemed that they weren't after the bounties of the straw hats; they never said why they did what they did.

Nami had woken up from her unconscious state to see the body of her captain lying in a sea of his own blood. Her scream rang through the ship and sang out into the endless oblivion of the sea. Chopper was found crying over the remains of his hero; the reindeer loved the swordsman like his brother and looked up to him as such. Seeing the dead body of the invincible Zoro was too much for the young boy to handle, sending him into shock, harming the barely alive reindeer further. Nami searched the ship discovered the rest of the crew in their various wounded states one by one, the last two crew members she found were Robin and Sanji, the latter wrapped firmly in the formers arms, tears streaming out of the archaeologist's eyes. It was Ussop who suggested that they put the three members of the Monster Trio in the Mini-Merry and give the three great pirates a Viking funeral. Chopper cleaned and dressed the bodies as best he could and Franky laid them in the Mini-Merry. Nami, the longest standing member of the straw-hats dropped the torch and the three monster-trio members were sent off to the bottom of the Grand Line. Robin stayed the longest, watching the ship burn and sink down into the watery depths.

The dark of the night slowly faded in, the low-hanging suns burning glow causing her eyes to close, her head to lighten and the darkness to fall over her. She didn't know when she slipped into sleep but when it took over, the euphoric sense of relief that came with the retreat of rest washed over her. Robin didn't dream of the horrors that took place that day, she didn't dream of the death of the ones she cared for so deeply, or the one she cared for the most. No Robin dreamt of the good times, the times where Luffy had laughed and played with the younger members of the crew, where the swordsman had chased the kids, as she called them, around for waking him up and then fighting the cook because he had insulted Nami. She dreamt of the cook dancing around her with a cake in one hand, a fruit cocktail in his other and a cup of black coffee balanced perfectly on his foot. The way he whispered sweet nothings to her deep in the night and made her feel better than she ever had, she never let him know that, she wished she had.

She awoke with a start, shooting up, a cold sweat dripping down her arm and wet lines down her face. She realised to her own horror she was crying, she hated that; she needed to be strong for herself and her crew. How dare she pity herself, how dare she feel sorry for herself. No, Robin would not allow herself to be broken; she resolved to save her friends, to protect what was left of Luffy's crew.

"This is my crew now, I am the only one who can get them out of here, and I am the only one who can get them from the New World and back to East Blue!" Robin said to herself, to reassure herself, to give herself purpose, to make sure that even though the guiding force that was Luffy had disappeared from their life, that the protection that was Zoro had vanished and that the warm strength of Sanji had ebbed away, she could protect them; she could make sure that they were safe.

Robin picked herself up, and hiding her face from the galley, the raven haired beauty walked to the bow of the ship. She swallowed hard and exhaled. What did she do to deserve this burden, what did she do to lose someone so close to her again. She thought back to the night before, the night before it happened. Sanji had been dicing vegetables in the galley, the smell of onion and spices and seasonal fish filling the air, causing Robin's mouth to water as she walked into the welcoming kitchen. Sanji smiled at her to greet her, offered her a drink and wiped his hands on a towel. It was endearing to Robin just how quickly he would drop everything to give her his undivided attention. She loved it when it was just him and her. She would never admit it but Nami being around Sanji would send jealous pangs to her heart, she hated that she felt like that but it didn't matter, she felt that way.

"Cook-san, why is it that even now, more than two years after meeting us, even after all these rejections by myself and Nami-chan, you act as you do or do as you do?" She inquired.

"Why? Well two reasons really, the first is because it was how I was raised, Zeff brought me up like that so I really don't have a choice. And the second is because Robin-chan, I care for you, greatly and if it makes you smile in anyway, then it really is worth the heart-ache of your rejection."

"And your relationship with Nami-chan?"

"What relationship? I just help make her happy. Like so many of us she has had a fairly hard life and needs to smile, even if I do annoy her, the drink and the sentiment makes her happy most of the time, so I do it."

"I see, so you love her?"

"No, well I do, but in the same way I love the rest of the crew minus the green headed bastard, Nami is special to me but… not like you are, Robin-chan."

"You really mean that…Sanji?"

"You called me my name?" He said, startled.

"Yeah, I did…Promise me something? Promise me you won't ever go?"

"Robin-chan, of course, I promise."

This night was different to the others, this night had a pot of coffee, a meal for two between crew members and a stolen kiss after sweet words that touched her heart and moistened her eyes. Words that told her that no matter what happened, he would be there, no matter what happened he would protect and shield her and no matter what happened, he would always love her. They found their way to her bed, found comfort in each other and let the night slip away in their own passion, lust and love.

"You stupid cook! You promised me, you promised me that you would never, ever leave me, ever! But you had to be your stupid, honourable self, you had to be a fool and I never even got to tell you!"

"Tell me what?"

"Sanji?!" she turned, hearing his voice, overjoyed.

Only nothing was there, no one was there; Sanji was nowhere to be found.

"Of course you aren't there; you're at the bottom of the ocean. I'm and idiot. I'm a foolish, foolish woman."

As Robin began to wander, she saw the ship in a new light, a darker light. Sanji gave her cups of coffee over there and that's where he would sit cross-legged and listen to her stories. It was amazing how empty the ship felt without Sanji. Sanji was the life in the crew, he was the connecting fibre that joined her to the rest of the Thousand Sunny's occupants. Robin would distance herself; she would forever remain a part of the crew but her books were often much better company than the crew was. She was comforted by the books, and whether or not they were fictional or not, they always had some sort of positive resolution, an ending that she had wished for the journey she was on, the Rio Poneglyph for her and the One Piece for Luffy, the defeat of Mihawk for Zoro and the world map for Nami. She wanted Chopper to be able to find the cure to all diseases and for Brook to be reunited with Laboon; she wanted Franky to overcome all battles with his dream ship and for Ussop to be a brave man of the sea. But more than the others, she desperately wanted Sanji to find All Blue just as he truly wanted her to find the true history of the Void Century and the Rio Poneglyph.

Without realising it, she had ventured into his room. The crisp air and clean walls smelled like him, like expensive cigarette smoke, and spices, and his Water's Seven Cologne. She didn't know what made her want to sleep first, whether it was the smoky room or the exhaustion from the battle or maybe it was some drowsy combination of the two, but she found herself slipping into his bed between his sheets and sleeping restlessly. Her eyes opened and shut and a pulsing, throbbing pain in her head faded in and out. She knew that sleeping should never have been this hard, she knew that escaping should never have been this painful, this difficult and yet, as if the world was mocking her, it was. The pain in her head was excruciating but it didn't compare to the tempest in her chest, the screaming hell in her heart that made her feel weak and so terribly vulnerable. Nico Robin was not weak, she projected that in herself every day, the way she swung her hips in her confident stride, the smile that showed that as beautiful and lady like as she was, she was not one to be messed with. Nico Robin was a beautiful, powerful woman who at this very moment was crying like a baby. Nico Robin had lost her new love, and as sappy and stupidly romantic as that was, it killed her. It took as many tears as her tender body had but sleep did eventually come, accompanied by yet more dreams.

"You know you need to get over this Robin-chan; you know you need to get over me."

Sanji was wearing his blue and black suit and a sad smile.

"What are you talking about Sanji, get over you and this situation? There are five of us left Sanji, five! I feel like I am the only one who could lead us out of here, the only one who can get us back to East Blue and get them some place safe. If you were here, you'd protect me, you'd make sure I'd get somewhere safe. You would know what to do, despite your stupid love cook mentality; you could be so level headed a true leader. I wish you were here right now. Did what we do that night mean nothing, did your words, your promise mean nothing?"

"Of course I meant them Robin-chan, why wouldn't I?"

"Because you left me in the end, you promised you wouldn't and you did. You are such a stupid fool, I just, I just wish you were here, with me, with all of us."

"Robin-chan, do you have any idea why I'm not with you? I made my choice yesterday because no matter what would happen, I promised I would protect you."

"You would do that for Nami-chan too." She almost screamed.

He kissed her.

"Did I though?" He smiled.

"What do you mean cook-san?" Robin questioned, still blushing.

"Who did I take bullet after bullet and a knife in the neck for? You Robin-chan. I died protecting you and I would again, and again, and again because I love you Robin-chan, ever since I saw you and as long as you have me in your memories, you won't lose me. Can't you see that you are strong enough to continue on without me?"

"How!?" she screamed this time, tears filling her eyes.

He kissed her again.

"Because you are Nico Robin, the most beautiful woman in the world, you are easily the smartest person I know and while we only got the one night together, that was a night of pure perfection, a night that was better than ever finding All Blue. Robin, you will succeed, you will get them out of this situation because you are Nico Robin and you are amazing." He slipped into the sheets behind her, wrapped his arms around her tiny waist and pulled her close.

"Sanji, please don't go, I need you, don't go. I never told you this but I love you, I love you so much, Sanji don't go?" she sobbed, fresh tears falling down her face.

"You look beautiful when you cry you know, Robin-chan?"

"Why did you have to die Sanji? Why did you have to go?" tears continued to drip out of her eyes.

"That's obvious Robin-chan, so you could live on, so you could follow your dreams and discover the true history." He smelled her hair and rested his head in the gap between her shoulder blades.

"But what about you, All Blue remember? You were supposed to catch and cook every fish there, wasn't that your dream?"

"I found All Blue, Robin-chan, I found it in you."

"How can that be true? I'm dreaming this, this isn't even real."

"Maybe, but there is a good chance that I am your subconscious, and maybe, just maybe we both know that I found All-Blue in you. Maybe I found my dream in you and maybe I died not just protecting you, but maybe I died protecting my dream, my dream that is you, I died protecting Nico Robin, and in doing so I died protecting All-Blue."

"Sanji, can't we just stay like this, forever?" She yawned, a wave of exhaustion coming over her in her dream.

"Go to sleep Robin-chan, I love you."

And Robin slept, for hours. By the time she awoke the sun was setting, painting a rippling red and gold picture on the sky. Her eyes were dry despite the tears in her dream and the light that entered the cook's bedroom made her glow. Robin truly looked gorgeous, she knew that the cook would have loved to have seen her as she was, blanket kicked off her body, just covering her feet, hair all over the place, eyes glowing, her short dress riding high up her thighs, his jacket draped over her back. Wait a minute, that wasn't there when she slept. It dawned on her that covering her torso to protect her from the cold was Sanji's favourite suit jacket and, clutched firmly in her elegant fingers was the chef's lighter. In turn from that day on, Nico Robin in times of stress, danger, and worry would wear that jacket and in the times that robin was most unsure of herself, the times that she needed comfort and safety she would clutch that lighter to her chest and remember the man who would flick it open, ignite the spark and melt her heart. No, Nico Robin wouldn't get to see her chef again but he was always with her, in the warmth of the jacket and the brilliant spark of the lighter.

So, what do you think? Too angsty? Too fluffy? Too much character death? Let me know in the review section below. Thanks for reading!


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